NORRISTOWN — Volunteers at St. Patrick Church are helping to level the SAT playing field for disadvantaged high school students. The church on DeKalb Street recently began the second year of the St. Patrick’s Scholars program that offers free SAT preparation to parish students whose parents do not speak English.

The Rev. Gus Puleo, St. Patrick’s pastor and a former professor at Columbia University, said college admissions are harder for the children of immigrants.

“When I was at Columbia, I always noticed the playing field wasn’t level,” Puleo said. “Most students have their parents’ help with applications and college admissions essays. Students whose parents are not English speakers don’t receive that benefit.”

Puleo is determined to help deserving students overcome that disadvantage. Last year he started the St. Patrick’s Scholars program with grant funding from various organizations.

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The program is selective, admitting only five freshmen students each year. The students remain in the program until they graduate. Currently, the program has 10 students, who meet on Wednesdays from 7-8:30 p.m.

To be selected, students need to be parish members, report their school grades regularly and have the full support of their parents.

According to Puleo, the current students come from Norristown, Lower Providence, Hatboro, and Phoenixville. Their parents hail from Haiti, Mexico, and various African countries.

The program is free of charge, and through grant funding the church provides SAT prep books, calculators, and other testing materials necessary for the test.

“If you can’t afford to buy prep books or pay for prep classes, you can’t be expected to do as well as students who can,” Puleo said.

The class is taught by five volunteers — three retired teachers and two Cabrini College students, who cover the SAT course material and administer practice tests. They also aid the students in the college admissions process, helping them with applications and essays.

The program provides students with school guidance as well, making sure they pick the right courses.

“We make sure they take every course that will prepare them for the SAT and college. Geometry, calculus, everything they need to do well on the test and prepare for their academic future,” Puleo said.

Sarah Macintosh, a junior at Cabrini College, has been with the program since it started last year. She began work with the program through Cabrini’s Engagement With the Common Good course series, which requires students to give back to the community.

Though Macintosh’s work began as a college requirement, she quickly realized she would be seeing these students all the way through.

“It’s really inspiring seeing everyone work so hard,” she said. “I’m continuing to work with this program because I want to see these students succeed. This program goes beyond preparing for the SAT. Not only are their critical thinking, writing, and math skills challenged and improved — the students learn about how to think about heading into a college situation in the future.”

Puleo is hopeful not on for the future of the students, but also for the future of the program.

“I know these kids. I see them at church every week and most of them are in the choir,” he said. “All of them deserve a bright future. Now all we need to do is get the word out and hopefully some more volunteers will give their time.”